Seoul (AFP) – Youn Sung-ho is a comedian-turned-musician whose viral Buddhism-infused sets have been credited with reviving the religion’s popularity among young South Koreans, even as his performances have ruffled feathers regionally, including triggering police reports in Malaysia.
Mumbai (AFP) – At least twelve people were killed and dozens more injured after a billboard collapsed during a fierce storm in India’s financial capital Mumbai.
Tanah Datar (Indonesia) (AFP) – Rescue workers search for people still missing after flash floods and cold lava flow from a volcano in western Indonesia. Hours of heavy rain caused large volcanic rocks to roll down one of Indonesia’s most active volcanos into two districts on Sumatra island Saturday evening, while flooding hit roads, homes and mosques.
London (AFP) – British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak says he is ‘confident’ his ruling Conservative Party can win general elections expected later this year, but refuses to set a date for the vote. Sunak mounts a defence of the Tories’ 14 years in power and claims that Britain would be less safe under Keir Starmer’s Labour opposition, which is widely tipped to come back to power.
Quiévrain (Belgium) (AFP) – A haircut but also a state of mind, an emblem of non-conformism and self-mockery: the European mullet festival took place on the 11th and 12th of May in Belgium. Organised since 2019, the festival – and the “European Mullet Cut Championship” that takes place alongside it – is held alternately in Belgium and France.
Barcelona (AFP) – Spain’s governing Socialist Party won a regional election in Catalonia on the 12th of May, snatching away separatist parties’ majority. Despite that, Catalan separatist leader Carles Puigdemont has said he would seek to form a pro-independence minority government in the Spanish region, as both sides vie to build coalitions to govern.
Ankara (AFP) – Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says that “more than 1,000 members” of the Palestinian militant group Hamas are being treated in Turkish hospitals amid the ongoing war in Gaza. Erdogan, a vocal critic of Israel’s war in the Palestinian territory since Hamas’s attacks on October 7, makes the announcement to reporters at a press conference with Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, adding that he has never considered Hamas “a terrorist organisation”.
Kampot (Cambodia) (AFP) – Nurtured for generations in two provinces of southwest Cambodia, the Kampot pepper industry now faces the threat of extreme weather driven by climate change. The pepper is prized by top chefs around the world and sells for up to $200 per kilo.
Tbilisi (AFP) – Several thousand Georgians gather outside parliament in Tbilisi in a fresh protest against a Russian-styled “foreign agent” bill, despite government officials warning of arrests.
São Leopoldo (Brazil) (AFP) – New rains in Brazil’s waterlogged south are expected to be more intense, authorities warn, bringing anguish to the victims of floods that have so far killed 145 people and left scores missing.
